Recently, everyone in the company has been talking about “cognition.” Some say that avoiding layoffs is not just about hard work, but also whether you have higher “cognition.”

I hear this term a lot too. It originally comes from psychology, but now many people use it to explain why someone succeeds or fails.

Right. For example, AI is developing quickly. Some people immediately go learn new things, while others stay the same. People then say this is a “cognition gap.”

This way of thinking is also related to the changes in China over the years. Many people see that in the same era with the same opportunities, different families end up very differently, so they believe more that “cognition determines choices.”

Our boss often says that we shouldn’t just do tasks, but also look at problems from a higher perspective. Some of my colleagues read books and industry news after work to improve their “cognition.”

However, if we explain others’ failures simply as “insufficient cognition,” I think that’s unfair. Sometimes it’s not about lack of effort, but that the environment changes too fast.

Exactly. I have a friend who worked very seriously, but when the company changed its business, he was still laid off. Later, people said his “cognition wasn’t enough,” and he felt very upset.

So I think the term “cognition” can help us reflect on ourselves, but it shouldn’t be used as the answer to everything. Focusing only on “cognition” can oversimplify complex issues.